BUFORD — It had everything you would expect from a 1 vs. 2 battle: two ties, 10 lead changes, big runs, timely defense, clutch free throw shooting.
Oh, and throw in perhaps the top seed for the upcoming Region 8-AAAAA tournament.
The top-ranked Buford girls took the last of those lead changes on a pair of Marissa Bruce free throws to open the fourth quarter and then pulled away from No. 2 Flowery Branch down the stretch for a 51-46 victory at the Buford City Arena Tuesday night.
The Lady Wolves (18-1, 8-0 Region 8-AAAAA) essentially clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming region tournament, giving them a regular season sweep of the Lady Falcons (16-4, 7-2) with four games left -- ensuring that Buford would have to drop three of those games to lose the No. 1 seed.
The game was a nip-and-tuck affair until the final four minutes.
Buford opened the contest with a 7-0 sprint in just 90 seconds, but Flowery Branch answered with a 13-6 spurt to close out the first quarter and extended it to a 16-13 lead on a Taniyah Worth 3-pointer moments into the second quarter.
Worth poured in 15 first half points, mixing drives and 3-pointers to help Flowery Branch take a 23-21 lead into halftime.
Buford girls coach Gene Durden knew something had to change.
“(Worth) is athletic and got some good shots and we didn’t do a real good job on her early on,” Durden said. “We decided to put a little more pressure on her in the third quarter. We needed to do something different.”
Certainly that proved the case, as Buford held Worth to just one free throw in the second half.
Yet it looked like that might not matter, as the third quarter proved much like the first half with the two teams trading leads six times before the Lady Falcons took a 34-33 advantage on a drive and assist by Lexi Sengkhammee on a Julianne Sutton basket just before the buzzer.
But though Flowery Branch seemed to own the momentum at that point, Bruce’s two free throws and a tenacious defensive effort by the Lady Wolves -- holding the Lady Falcons without a field goal for the first 6:38 of the fourth quarter -- sparked a 12-3 run that doused Branch's upset bid.
“It was a game of runs and they got a big one at the right time,” Newton-Gonzalez said. “We played better this time than last but we still only played about three-and-a-half quarters. You have to play a full four quarters to beat them.”
Three days after committing nearly 20 turnovers in a sloppy win over Class AAA No. 4 West Hall, Buford’s offense executed much more efficiently against the Lady Falcons with just five turnovers.
For all the talk of their defensive press and intensity, Durden said his team's half-court efficiency was key -- and must continue to be so in the upcoming postseason.
“You’re going to have games like this where you have to grind things out,” Durden said. “This was good for us and I thought we did a nice job overall of taking care of the ball."
The Lady Wolves also finished plays in order to keep Flowery Branch at bay, hitting 10-of-11 free throws in the final quarter.
Tory Ozment led Buford with 19 points. Bruce finished with eight for the Lady Wolves.
Worth paced Flowery Branch with 16 points. Ashley Woodroffe added 10 points but Sutton was held to just six points and Sengkhemmee had five for the Lady Falcons.
BUFORD BOYS 74,
FLOWERY BRANCH 61
Junior guard Alex Jones poured in 37 points, including an eye-popping 14-for-14 from the free throw line, to lead the No. 1 Wolves to a Region 8-AAAAA win.
The victory was closer than the final score as Jones took control after Brannon Clark hit a 3-pointer 45 seconds into the fourth quarter that pulled the Falcons within 52-51.
Clark scored 16 of Buford’s final 17 points, as the the Wolves (18-2, 8-0 Region 8-AAAAA) were forced to go to a smaller lineup with inside players David Viti and Marcus Watson in foul trouble.
“We like our big lineup but when they got in (foul) trouble we had to go to a different look which made us a little quicker. And then Alex just took over the game. Unbelievable performance,” Buford coach Eddie Martin said.
Flowery Branch (16-5, 5-4) was not intimidated and jumped out to a 6-0 lead, pushed that to 11-4 on a Clark 3-pointer, and led 17-10 after a Blake Coxworth basket late in the first quarter.
The Wolves responded behind Jones and sophomore guard Donell Nixon, who combined for two 3-pointers and a pair of assists to spark a 15-2 run for a 25-19 Buford lead midway through the second quarter. The Falcons battled back to tie the game at 32-32 on a Dalton Gerdts 3-pointer but Jones gave the Wolves a 35-32 halftime advantage with another 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Flowery Branch did not go away, opening the third quarter with a 10-2 run, capped by a John Mills 3-pointer for a 42-37 advantage. But Buford answered that with a 15-6 run and never trailed again.
Nixon finished with 16 points and Tobi Obasanya added 12 for Buford.
Mills paced Flowery Branch with 21 points. Clark finished with 20 and Justin Quick had eight for the Falcons.
Free throw shooting was the difference. Buford was 25-of-27 for the game from the line. Flowery Branch took just seven free throws, sinking six.
